Review + Giveaway: Full Blooded

Full Blooded
Jessica McClain, Book 1

Author: Amanda Carlson
Pages: 322
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Born the only female in an all male race, Jessica McClain isn’t just different—she’s feared.

After living under the radar for the last twenty-six years, Jessica is thrust unexpectedly into her first change, a full ten years late. She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.

But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.

When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life.

First Sentence: "I drew in a ragged breath and tried to surface from one hell of a nightmare."

Review:
It has been ages since I read a straight up paranormal romance, and, though they may not be literary brilliance, I have missed them. Amanda Carlson's Jessica McClain series focuses on shifters, but has just about every paranormal you could hope to find. Full Blooded reminded me heavily of Bitten, the first book of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, so, if you enjoyed that, you will likely enjoy the drama of Full Blooded.

Jessica has fought long and hard for her independence from the Pack, but all of that effort goes up in smoke the moment she shifts into her wolf form. Women aren't supposed to shift; in fact, she's the only female werewolf in the world (baby wolfies are bred on human women). No surprise there, right? What's a paranormal romance without a heroine who is a super special snowflake? Since being the only female werewolf in the whole world isn't enough, she also has some other powers too.

All of that, of course, is very unoriginal ground, well-tread in the genre. What I enjoyed, though, was that Jessica was not running from her family because they were abusive or controlling or didn't respect her, but because she wanted to live a different life. Her father Callum, the pack's Alpha, and her brother Tyler support her in everything she does, unless they're positive she'll be seriously hurt by what she's planning. When in doubt, though, they always help her, let her have what she wants. Like, her father could use his Alpha powers to order her to behave a particular way, but he doesn't, except in extreme situations when her life is legit on the line. In fiction, there are a lot of neglectful or abusive families, so I am always so glad to see that, especially in paranormal romance, where it usually takes a back seat to romance.

Anyway, being the only female werewolf is complicated, and, thankfully, not because all of the men think they should be able to get into her pants. Actually, there's a prophecy that says a lady werewolf will destroy all of their kind, so some factions are seriously concerned at her emergence. Her father's first instinct is to lock her up and keep her safe, but he wants her to be happy, so they try to let her just go on with life. Of course, that doesn't work, because there would be no book.

Jessica was mostly a likable heroine. She's strong, brave, loyal, and practical. Even when she meets her mate (hello obvious instalove), she doesn't get gross about it, thank goodness. The only thing I didn't like about her was the way she would refer to things as 'slutty' that didn't seem to be at all. Like, she would worry that as a wolf she would be a slut, and sleep with everyone. *headdesk* Embrace it, girl. Slutty is something society imposes on you; don't let it and you can have way more guilt-free fun.

Oh, also, Jessica loves to eat. Her change makes her ravenously hungry at all times. She eats constantly in the book. Hurray for a heroine that EATS. She has a hunger beast and I thought that was fantastic. Even better, there's a scene where she's talking to this super sexy guy with a big old mouthful of food. Her words come out all unclear, because of how much food she has stuffed in there. This scene was probably my favorite, since Jessica really doesn't care most of the time if she looks hot and that was refreshing.

Thankfully, she doesn't let her somewhat prudish mind stop her from having fun entirely, because the wolf-y side of her convinces her getting some is an awesome idea. Good sexy scenes happen rarely in YA, so this was very enjoyable. The wolfish side of her brain needs to win arguments more often.

Except...I didn't really like the wolfish side of her brain. Basically, this was the thing I liked least, I think. The wolf reminded me a lot of the 'inner goddess' thing. It's all 'my wolf growls' or 'my wolf barks' or 'my wolf is in a frenzy,' encouraging her to fight or to stare someone down have some sex. I don't know. I guess I just didn't like how silly that seemed or how compartmentalized the wolf was, like an entirely different being inhabiting her body. She and the wolf are one, right?

Full Blooded met my expectations just about, a fun paranormal romp. Not much is accomplished plot-wise, and the ending has some insane cliffhangers, so I'll be sticking around for Hot Blooded, the next book in the series.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'I don't want to go, I want to stay and fight. My place is here fighting alongside my Pack, not being protected like some breakable object.'"

Giveaway: I'm giving away my finished review copy to a reader, since my book shelves are overflowing. Since I'm mailing it out, US only. All you have to do is fill out THIS FORM by October 26 at 11:59 PM.

Audiobook Review: Endlessly

Endlessly
Paranormalcy, Book 3

Author: Kiersten White
Narrator: Emily Eiden
Duration: 9 hrs, 55 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Source: Harper Audio for review

Description from Goodreads:
Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate.

The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands.

So much for normal.

Series:
1. Paranormalcy (review|Goodread)
2. Supernaturally (review|Goodreads)
3. Endlessly

Review:
It's been quite a while since I read Paranormalcyand Supernaturally, but I remember liking them, mostly because they were funny. I also appreciated that Evie is unapologetically a girly girl, but that archit doesn't mean she won't fight to defend herself. White also kills off at least one of Evie's friends in the earlier books, which adds a darkness and seriousness to the otherwise fluffy story. I don't know if it's because of the format change or not, but I did not enjoy Endlessly quite as much.

The plot does a bit of meandering. The overarching goal is to try and let the faeries and other paranormals that want to go home through a portal of Evie's construction. The drama lies in convincing Evie to try and in surviving the attempts by opposed parties to stop this happening. Much of the book is composed of those latter attempts, as both IPCA and the Dark Queen don't want the paranormals to leave for their own nefarious reasons. These challenges felt rather superficial and silly to me, perhaps because of how easy they were to resolve, and how little sacrifice was entailed. In the end, they really just seemed like ways to make the book long enough.

Here's the other issue: despite the fact that everything is accomplished pretty easily in the grand scheme of things, Evie whines NON-STOP about the things that don't go right. Every tiny thing that doesn't go her way she complains about ENDLESSLY (see what I did there?). So, for example, in a turn of events that delighted me because she deserved it, she and Lend are cursed such that if they are in the same room, he falls asleep. This happens just after a battle and Evie comments on how sore her body feels, which she then attributes to MISSING LEND'S TOUCH. Girl, it's been like two days of not touching your boyfriend. You can freaking deal. They need boundaries.

Seriously, I cannot remember if Lend and Evie were so completely disgusting in the prior books. From what I recall I kind of liked them. Either way, they annoyed the heck out of me in this one. They're CONSTANTLY professing their endless love for one another and arguing about which of them gets to sacrifice themselves for the other. BARF. Their every interaction is insanely sappy and made me miss the previous book where Lend was often gone for school.

Also, I have to mention the birthday/Christmas presents they give each other because OMG so ridiculous. Lend gives Evie a masquerade ball. Ariana made her a fancy dress (the one from the cover) and also made masks for pretty much every person in town. What? Who does this? Why not just have them go to prom? Later, Evie gifts Lend with a ten minute video of every single scene from Easton Heights where a character says 'I love you,' with Lend's favorite song playing in the background. Evie is the WORST gift giver ever. Giving that to her, since it's her favorite show would be thoughtful, but Lend tolerates it for her. Way not to buy a real present. If I were Lend, I would have dumped her right then.

Still, the book did entertain and had its funny moments. Jack, who stupid Evie accepts back as a friend, turns out to be the most entertaining character, mostly because Evie and Lend find him somewhat insufferable. I actually hated him before, but I liked him more the less I cared for Evie. Despite how many issues I had with just about everything, these are still entertaining, which is why you'll probably be surprised to see a rating of 3. This is one of those books that you enjoy even as you're constantly rolling your eyes.

Narration:
Being fairly new to audiobooks, I don't yet know narrators by name and which ones to avoid. Well, Emily Eiden is going on the 'to be avoided at all costs' list. I just could not stand the sound of her voice, which is really unfortunate since I had to spend almost 10 hours listening to it.

She tries very hard to sound youthful, but, to me, she sounded like an old woman imitating a teen, not convincing at all. She portrays Evie in such a way that she comes across as a smug bimbo, when I always imagined Evie sounding friendly and perky. This Evie I wanted to punch in the face. Eiden did an okay job with the other characters, but since it's told from Evie's perspective that's really not enough to improve the situation.

Rating: 3/5

Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce
Pages: 324
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Description from Goodreads:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. 


Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

First Sentence: "Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged toward them."

Review:
Wow. The opening scene of Sisters Red has such an amazing hook. Sisters Scarlett and Rosie are ages 11 and 9 respectively when their family is attached by a Fenris (a sort of werewolf/shifter). Their grandmother, their only caretaker since their mom has taken off, is murdered. The eleven year old Scarlett manages to kill the Fenris in order to protect her baby sister. Flash forward seven years. Both Scarlett and Rosie are hunters, trying to kill Fenris before the wolves kill people.

I freaking LOVED the idea behind this one. Of course, I'm always super excited about anything purporting to be a fairy tale retelling. That's definitely one of my favorite genres of literature. However, there are also a lot of horrendously bad, or at leas unoriginal, fairy tale retellings out there. Sisters Red is gloriously new to me. I loved the idea of red riding hood luring the wolf to his doom, rather than the other way around; that's such a wonderful spin on the tale.

The fairy tale told here definitely hearkens back to the origins of fairy tales, not to Disney's reworkings. If you like the perkiness of the Disney tales, this may not be your cup of tea. The Grimm's fairy tales for example include much more bloodshed, like the evil stepsisters getting their eyes pecked out at Cinderella's wedding as they perform their bridesmaid duties. Jackson Pearce has written a dark, lush, violent fairy tale. Scarlett, for example, is missing an eye and wears an eye patch. Sweet YA paranormal romance this is not, and I like it all the better for that.

As I've mentioned before, writing multiple first person perspectives can be very tricky to get right. Often, the characters come out sounding exactly the same. Scarlett and Rosie have some similarities (they're sisters and very close), but there was no point where I couldn't tell whose chapter I was in. Their narration is different; Scarlett is sharp, predatory and jaded, while Rosie is soft, sweet and hopeful.

Sisters Red has also given me a new ship. I completely adore Rosie and Silas. He's a bit old for her, but he's also an old family friend and a woodsman/hunter. At the beginning of the book, he has just come back to their small Georgia town from a long trip. Before he left, Rosie was still a child, but, now, they are both different people, suddenly attracted to one another where they were not before. The awkwardness of their trying to handle this change is so completely real; I could feel tentative butterflies for them. That whole romance line I want to give two thumps up and a big goofy grin to.

My one issue with the book is a seeming inconsistency that I noticed. I sort of saw the big plot twist coming. In fact, I would have been wholly unsurprised by it, had I not convinced myself that I must be wrong about that since what I was expecting couldn't be the case because of something that happened early on. In other words, they're trying to prevent a particular event, but, so far as I can tell, that event occurred near the beginning of the book. There may be something to explain that, and I do intend to ask Jackson about it, but, for now, it's going to skew my rating down to a 4. Sorry if that whole paragraph didn't make sense, but it was the best I could do without spoilers!

That last thing aside, I devoured this novel like a Fenris devours tasty lady flesh. Okay, that was too much, but I'm rolling with it. I urge those who love fairy tales and incredibly strong ladies to go pick this book up pronto. It is as awesome as this cover; I promise.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "I hurry over to whip the Sexy Meatloaf out of the heat."
Weird quote to choose, I know, but I loved this whole scene because it captures Jackson's humor so well!

"Who's that I see walkin' in these woods
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything a big bad wolf could want
Listen to me
Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone
Owoooooooo
What big eyes you have
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways"

Highway to Hell - Glee

Diabolical
Tantalize, Book 4
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 349
ARC Acquired from: Candlewick via NetGalley
Brief Summary:
Everything's pretty calm at Sanguini's, but that doesn't mean the gang doesn't have a mission. Miranda, watching from above, sends a message to Zachary (via Joshua) that her friend Lucy is in trouble, having signed up for a demonic school in an effort to figure out what the hell happened to Miranda. Of course, Zachary can't go without Quince, which means Kieren's going to. Can they rescue Lucy and emerge with their souls (and lives) intact?

Review:
Installment four in Cynthia Leitich Smith's gothic series returns the reader to the format of book two, which, for those who haven't read it, means that the story is told from multiple points of view. For the first time, Kieren gets to 'speak,' along with Miranda, Zachary and Quincie. Yes, that's right. Miranda, my superfav (hint: this is sarcasm) is back.

The story is just as readable and fantastical as the previous ones. If you enjoyed them, I imagine you'll like this one too, especially since you'll actually get a happy ending. Unfortunately, the story is marred by numerous plot holes. Honestly, I think this would have been better had she ixnayed the happy ending.

So much of what happened here is not believable within the context of her own universe. For example, why is Miranda in heaven? This of course, I knew before, and was not entirely cool with, but mostly accepted. Now, though, she's sitting in the Penultimate, a sort of purgatory for Heaven which I'll talk about more later, surrounded by all of these people she killed. What really made me question Smith's decision here was not so much the evidence that Quincie was a completely freaking awful person/eternal, but the fact that not one of her victims is really mad at her. In every case, she saved them from a terrible fate one way or another. Bull.

Along a similar vein, how does Harrison end up in Heaven? This seems like the equivalent of the belief that, no matter what you've done previously, if you're killed after confessing your sins, you get heaven. Umm, why? The one plus of more Harrison in the book was finding out that he is super gay, which was kind of amusing.

The frame story, where they're going into the school to save Lucy, also continually seemed fabricated. Lucy's a plot point and that's all there is to it. The parts that really didn't make sense were at the end, which means I can't be especially specific. I just want to state for the record that what happened to Kieren and Zachary at the end was completely absurd. Especially Zachary. In what way does that make sense? Argh!

Okay, I want to end my review with something more positive, so I'll go back to the beginning of the book again. As I've already mentioned, Miranda's chilling in the Penultimate, where she can watch over whoever she wants to via a device called the monitor-com until she's ready to pass on to Heaven. (For those who are interested, this is very similar to a vision of the afterlife I wrote about in a short story. Funny that.) The setup is pretty cool, and I do love theories of life after death.

Rating: 1.5/5

"I'm on the highway to hell"

Weak and Powerless - A Perfect Circle

Blessed
Tantalize, Books 3

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 454
Publisher: Candlewick

Brief Summary:
In Blessed, the storylines of Tantalize and Eternal meet up. At the end of Eternal, Zachary was assigned as the GA (guardian angel) of Quincie. With Brad apparently gone, Quincie is hurriedly hiring replacement staff, who will also be familiar to those who read the prior books, and seriously missing her best friend Kieren. Especially since his parents are now her legal guardians, meaning she has to stay at their house and hide her condition. Other than that, she just has to figure out what to do about all of the people who ate Brad's baby squirrel dessert and will be turning into vampires themselves any day now.

Review:
The storylines coming together is pretty cool. I actually had no idea that these book were a series when I read the first two a couple years ago, or, I knew they were supposed to be and was very confused to find they weren't particularly. The world that Smith created still strikes me as an interesting one, although I still wish her characters could be a little more interesting.

Quincie bothered me the slightest bit less, but mostly only because I was prepared for her annoying-ness. Her new obnoxious trait is complaining about the words people use, but not being smart enough to come up with a replacement of her own. Oy. Anyway, Kieren I still like, as much as one can, considering that he doesn't get much screen time or depth in his personality. Zachary is a bit less cool in this one, since he's trying to be good again. Miranda's gone and I didn't miss her, but I sure could have done without the constant missing of her.

I want to talk a little bit about the restaurant that Quincie owns. Sanguini's: A Very Rare Restaurant has a vampire theme. This makes for some humorous jokes and doesn't seem like something to be taken seriously. However, the restaurant does really well. What I want to know is why? The menus are completely nauseating. Note the baby squirrel dessert from the menu above. Another food featured is crickets. Why?!?

Smith decided to end this volume with a slightly happier note. This actually struck me as a bit forced; the ending seemed to wrap up to nicely, and not entirely realistically. Of course, maybe Smith is saving the real emotion punch for the end of Diabolical.

Rating: 3/5

"Desperate and Ravenous
I'm so weak and powerless over you"

A Case of You - Tori Amos

Tantalize
Tantalize, Book 1

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 336
Publisher: Candlewick

Brief Summary:
Quincie's parents died and left her the family restaurant Fat Alberto's. The restaurant did okay for a while, but when a rival Italian place opened up nearby and they started losing all their customers but the regulars, her uncle, who's managing the place until she's 21, decides they need a gimmick to get people in. He chooses vampires, even though there hasn't been a definite vampire sighting in years. They're real but still more of a joke than anything else. While the preparations for reopening are still being completed, the chef is murdered. The suspect is her best friend, Kieren, who happens to be a werewolf (well, half of one anyway). The new chef is a bit weird and she only has a brief time to make him look like a proper vampire.

Review:
To get ready for Diabolical, I'm going through this series again. Actually, I've only read the first two. When I read Tantalize several years ago, I thought it was completely hilarious. I enjoyed all of the puns and silly things, like the various kinds of weres (were-armadillo, ha!). At that time, I did think the ending was pretty lame and awful.

Ironically, I'm now kind of going the other way. Whereas before I noticed the silly, light humor, the puns and such things, I now focus on the darkness and violence that I guess didn't bother me before. From my research this is the beginning of Cynthia Leitich Smith's gothic series, and I suppose I can see why. There are monsters lurking under the skin of just about everyone. Of course, the bit of humor on the top does help.

Quincie, aka Quince, does not make a great main character. She's kind of a dope and she does not trust her best friend nearly enough. She is easily swayed by arguments and does not think to do any research on her own. Also, I could definitely have done with a few less mentions of her beige thong; I get it already. On a side note, if my parents named me Quincie, I would be so pissed. Pretty much the only thing consistent from my first read is that I still think Kieren's the best character.

Ultimately, I was a little less into the book on this read-through, but I am still curious to find out what will happen in the later volumes. Although not perfect, Cynthia Leitich Smith does seem to be setting up an interesting world here.

Rating: 2.5/5

"In my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Well, I could drink a case of you, darling"

The Horror of Our Love - Ludo

Sad Monsters:
Growling on the Outside, Crying on the Inside

Author: Frank Lesser
Illustrator: Willie Real
Pages: 171
Review Copy Acquired from: Plume

This book consists of forty brief vignettes about various monsters, some of whom are, as the title implies, sad. Not every monster cries himself to sleep at night, though; some quite enjoy their lives of monstrosity. Most of them have romantic problems. It's not easy to be a monster on the prowl in the dating sense, what with also prowling in the nomming sense

It may interest you to know that the author, Frank Lesser, writes for The Colbert Report. This sets some pretty high standards for the book to follow. Thankfully, Sad Monsters was just what I hoped it would be. Puns and irony abound, along with some cute postmodernism (ain't that reevaluation of that monster and his secret pain just precious?).

You get a really wide range of monsters in here. Lesser definitely isn't sticking only to the most popular (zombies, werewolves, vampires). Some of my favorite vignettes were Godzilla wondering what the point of all the stomping is (also, did you know that Godzilla likes M*A*S*H as much as I do?), formerly people-munching diets going vegan or carb-free, peaceful zombies being chased by humans, unsuccessful monsters like Count Macula (who just might work at my office) and Igor's résumé. Pretty much each of the little stories will make you bust out laughing, snort, groan or teehee.

Reading Sad Monsters takes somewhere around an hour. This is an estimate, since I read multiple books at one time; suffice it to say that it is quite short. I feel like this is an excellent book to pull out to amuse your friends with or to buy quirky friends for Christmas (don't know what to get them but know they love Colbert style humor?). Plus, how cute is that monster on the cover!?!

"I'm a killer, cold and wrathful
Silent sleeper, I've been inside your bedroom
I've murdered half the town
left you love notes on their headstones
I'll fill the graveyards until I have you.
Moonlight walking, I smell your softness
carnivorous and lusting to track you down among the pines.
I want you stuffed into my mouth
hold you down and tear you open, live inside you -
love, I'd never hurt you.
But I'll grind against your bones until our marrows mix
I will eat you slowly..."

The Seventh Son - Johnny Rivers

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group

Author: Catherine Jinks
Pages: 409
ARC Acquired from: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Toby Vandevelde woke up in a dingo pen with no memory of how he came to be there. He's not harmed and he swears he didn't do any drugs. A priest and Reuben, both from the first book (The Reformed Vampire Support Group) show up and tell Toby that he's actually a werewolf. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't believe them and concocts a plan with his friends to record the crazies. Only it turns out that they're not lying and Toby could be in serious danger.

Review:
I really was not looking forward to this book after having read and pretty much hated The Reformed Vampire Support Group. Thankfully, this one was much better. It's still not going to be a new favorite, but it was a decent read that moved along at a nice pace.

The real difference between the two is the narrator; where Nina is bored and boring, Toby is full of energy and typical teen boy-ness. Catherine Jinks' conception of vampires was amusing, but reading about a bunch of folks who do nothing but whine is no fun. Toby whines, but he also tries to change his circumstances. He also has a clear personality, unlike the vampires (who show up in this book and still remain static characters).

I still have some issues with Jinks' worldbuilding. Becoming a werewolf is evidently an inherited trait, found only in families of Spanish or Portuguese backgrounds. Not only that, but they have to be the seventh sons. Yikes but that's specific. The book even says that werewolves are typically found in South America and the Phillipines (although nothing is mentioned about Spain or Portugal...), so why are there so many werewolves running around Australia (not to mention so many werewolves in general)? With vampires, too, I am a bit concerned about their origin. Apparently, one bite turns a human into a vampire. If it's that easy, why is the world not populated entirely with very hungry vampires? Sure, the group tries not to fang folks, but all vampires cannot be that particular, especially in early days.

Overall, this was an okay read, but, should there be more books in this series, I will not be continuing on. This one was good enough to give me some hope for Jinks' other series about geniuses (of which I own the first book).

Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song) - Iron & Wine

City of Fallen Angels
The Mortal Instruments, Book 4
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 424
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Brief Summary:
In the fourth installment of The Mortal Instruments series (which I totally thought was a trilogy, but whatevs), the gang is back with new fish (aka demons) to fry. Simon is struggling to come to terms with his vampire-hood and to choose between his two pretty girlfriends, Isabelle, a shadowhunter, and Maia, a werewolf. Jace is trying to distance himself from Clary, because of his dreams, in which he kills her. Alec and Magnus are off on a gay tour of the world. Just because Valentine is dead doesn't mean evil's done for.

Review:
Although I was fairly happy with the ending to book three, I am also totally okay with her continuing the series. Book four was, to me, totally consistent with the quality of the series up to this point. This is one of those series I have a love/hate relationship with; sometimes I want to stop reading and sometimes I am completely, shamefully drawn into all of the melodrama.

Most of all, let me say how much I do not care about Clary and Jace. They suffer from the overdramatic, overly mushy, want-to-be-together-but-can't thing that has made so many main couples exceedingly obnoxious. Other prime examples from the fantasy world are Buffy/Angel and Max/Liz (from Roswell). As with both of those television shows, I do really enjoy the supporting cast. Any section of the book that followed Simon, Alec or Isabelle, I was much more likely to appreciate.

Still, I did not like the way she paired everyone off toward the end of the book. Which is not to say the pairings are all doing well, but they are all definitely heading in an obvious direction. That just felt a bit too quick. Everyone was more forgiving than seems particularly likely. Plus, I didn't like that Simon never had to choose between the two girls; the choice was sort of made for him and he just rolled with it. Am I supposed to ship a relationship when he never really seemed to care for one more than the other?

All in all, another calorie-ridden, guilty pleasure. I know the next book will be just as agonizing and annoying as the others, but I also know that I will be reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it.

"Evening, evening on the ground
And there is no one else around
So you will blame me
Blame me for the rocks
And baby bones and broken lock
On the garden
Garden wall of Eden"

Man in the Box - Alice in Chains

The Fallen Blade
Assassini Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Pages: 464
ARC Acquired From: Orbit via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
A boy is confined in a box with no doors or windows, and he is held by silver chains. He cannot remember much of anything, not even his name. When rescued by Venetians, he discovers he is far away in distance and time from his barely remembered homeland, which he learns was destroyed a hundred years ago. What is he and why is he still alive?

Review:
I went into this book with no knowledge of the author and little of the plot. All I knew was that it was the first book of a historical fiction vampire series. My expectations were pretty low. In this context, I liked the book far more than I anticipated.

This story caught my interest early and managed to hold it. There is quite a bit of action and the characters are so odd that I wanted to figure out what was going on. Though I would not have had the story develop the way it did, it was definitely decent.

I had two main quibbles with the book:

1. There is only one non-attractive woman in the book, the one-armed old woman who raised Tycho, the boy in the box. All of the others are described by words like 'lush.' Unlikely.
2. Few chapters (of which there are many) pass without someone voiding their bowels out of fear and/or pain. This strikes me as unnecessarily gruesome, graphic and gross. Sure this is a natural thing and does happen to people, but every time violence happens? Really?

Some people will quite enjoy this book, which I thought was pretty decent for what it was. If you have no problems with violence or constant discussion of scatalogical happenings, give this a try. It also has a bunch of action scenes, political machinations and paranormal fantasy. I don't think I will be returning for book two, but this was not a bad read.

"I'm the man in the box
Buried in my shit
Won't you come and save me?
Save me"

The Leader of the Pack - The Shangrilas

Once in a Full Moon
Full Moon, Book 1

Author: Ellen Schreiber
Genre: fantasy, young adult
Pages: 189
ARC Acquired From: HarperTeen via netGalley

Brief Summary:
Celeste is living the perfect life. She's one of the popular people and is dating the most popular guy in school, who is, of course, the star of the football and basketball teams. Her two best friends are dating his two best friends. What could be better? Well, maybe the mysterious, sexy new guy Brandon, who even saved her from a wolf pack, sustaining a bite in the process. Her boyfriend, Nash, has never been as attentive as she would like, so, after an act of cowardice and some flirting with another girl, she decides to break up with him. With him out of the way, she has time to research the werewolf legends in Legend's Run for a paper and to research Brandon too, who just might, unbelievably be a werewolf.

Review:
Celeste does not actually like Nash at all. She mentions that when he first asked her out, she truly thought it was a joke, because he "was known for pranks around school—gum on chairs, funny sayings on blackboards, sticking naughty pictures in textbooks—and I'd yet to be picked as his victim " (22). When Nash tells jokes, everyone laughs, except for Celeste, who finds them to be in bad taste (34). When he runs away from howling wolves, she has to "put on a brave face to mask [her] disappointment in [her] boyfriend's cowardice" (18). Despite her rather obvious lack of connection to Nash, even after the break up, Celeste continues to allow him to escort her to classes and buy her lunch every day.

Schreiber wants the audience to believe that Celeste and her best friends, Ivy and Abby, really love one another. But they totally don't. There is no evidence of it; these girls are as catty as popular girls tend to be. She describes their lunch time conversation as "wonderfully inane," (28) complains that they will not do any of the things that she is interested in, like spending time outdoors, and hates their disdain of Westsiders (the kids from the poor side of town, of which Brandon is one). The fact that she really does not like her friends matters quite a bit, since she refuses to acknowledge Brandon publicly because she is afraid of losing their friendship...

After Brandon saves her life, she feels drawn to him, so attracted that she cannot resist his pull. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's model gorgeous (are they ever not?). She talks to him only in private and never tells her friends that she likes him or hangs out with him. Even at the end of the novel when she is entirely convinced of her love for Brandon, she still thinks of him like this (in incomplete sentences): "But I wasn't going to commit to Nash. Even if it were the smart thing to do, even if it didn't make sense to love a guy who I couldn't see at night and couldn't be embraced in front of my friends by day" (180). There are a couple of glaring problems here: 1) In what world is it logical to date a guy you hate who also happens to be a dipwad? and 2)How can you consider yourself to be in true, everlasting love with a guy that you will snub to hang out with your friends who, again, you don't actually like?

Celeste, because of the above, is an entirely unlikeable narrator. She is also stupid, as she never sees even the most glaringly obvious things coming. And it does not help matters that her friends all think she is the most observant and intelligent person (standards are low in Legend's Run).

Schreiber's take on werewolves is also pretty awful. I gave her props at first for having werewolves that are actually werewolves and not shifters that become wolves. Props end there. When people change into Werewolves here, they apparently become a cross between Fabio and Robin Williams; in other words, they get long hair on their head, neat facial hair, thick chest hair and ripped muscles. Werewolves are not supposed to be hot; they are hairy, and not just in the places where Ellen Schreiber happens to find hairiness attractive.

Yuck, yuck, yuck. This book is poorly written and poorly plotted. It at least has the advantage of being short.

"They told me he was bad
But I knew he was sad
That's why I fell for (the leader of the pack)"

Pink Bullets - The Shins

Paranormalcy
Paranormalcy, Book 1

Author: Kiersten White
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Pages: 335

Brief Summary:
Evie grew up in foster care until the day she cut through a graveyard and was approached by a vampire. Unlike most people, the vampire looked like a corpse to her, not like a handsome man, so she screamed her head off (not literally). Turns out that Evie is the only person on the world who can see through glamours, making her very valuable. She goes to work (not that she has much choice) for the IPCA, responsible for tagging and maintaining control of paranormals all over the world. Evie desperately wishes she could attend high school and do normal things, but is happy enough living vicariously through her favorite teen drama, Easton Heights. When a new kind of paranormal, a cute, shape-shifting boy, appears, Evie starts thinking long and hard about everything she is missing. Add a mysterious serial killer of paranormals, an obsessed fairy stalker, the prom and some scary truths about the IPCA and Evie has a lot on her plate.

Review:
Paranormalcy successfully walks a fine line between lameness and humor. The book certainly is following on the tail of all of the other paranormal fiction being written now. White does not add anything new particularly, but does do some interesting things with the conventions she chooses to use. Evie, as a heroine, is not particularly impressive. She can protect herself to some degree, she is a little above average intelligence-wise and she is hugely innocent. In essence, she does seem like a real girl. She loves everything in the color pink, like her taser (Tasey) and her knife (no pink bullets, but she would have used them if she had a gun). While I found this absurd, I found it to be so in an entirely believable way.

While romance is a big part of Paranormalcy, it will probably disappoint some teen readers for its lack of sexual activity. The characters keep it PG, even in their thoughts, except for a couple of weak innuendos. The innocence of the characters is actually refreshing after having read so many teen books about seriously sexually active teenagers. While that may be true to life too, not all teens are that quick out of the starting gate. One of the scenes that sold me on White's portrayal of a teen girl was when the couple has their first kiss (the first kiss for both of them). The moment is awkward and sweet. When it's over, Evie keeps remembering the kiss, causing the "giddiness [to] set in anew." (No page number because I read this on my Kindle.) This perfectly captures a girl's thoughts in such a moment.

No, Paranormalcy is not a paragon of literature, even when limited to young adult titles, but it is a fun read. It is amusing and better written than many. For a fun, quick, humorous read, Paranormalcy is well-worth the time.

"I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole
You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold"

Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran

Bitten
Women of the Otherworld, Book 1

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: fantasy, romance
Pages: 436

Brief Summary:
Elena has managed to build a fairly ordinary life for herself: steady job, apartment, devoted boyfriend. The only thing that mars her normal life is that she has to sneak out of bed once a week or so to go running around the city...as a wolf. Elena is a werewolf (or shifter?). In fact, she is the only female werewolf in existence, since only males can inherit the werewolf gene and women have to be bitten and survive. Elena separated from the werewolf pack, unable to escape her confused emotions for Clay, her love and the man who turned her into a werewolf. She wants to stay with her boyfriend in Toronto, but a crisis calls her back to New York where the pack lives. Mutts, werewolves outside the pack, have started going on a killing spree on the pack's doorstep and they cannot be stopped without Elena's help.

Review:
I determined to read this series (well, I was planning to read it anyway, but I fasttracked it) after enjoying Armstrong's teen series. One of my friends told me that this series was set in the same world, so I really wanted to find out. Honestly, I am not yet sure on that. Overall, I found this book less interesting than the teen series. I never got particularly interested in what was happening or in the characters. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't grip me.

One thing that really confused me was the werewolf gene being only male. Is that a thing genetics does? I mean, maybe it could, but it's just odd. Really, it seemed like a choice made so that Elena could be the one all of the guys wanted, in order to up the sexy drama of the book.

Elena's relationships with pretty much every guy in the book also confused me. She has father issues (unsurprising since her parents died when she was young and she was abused by her foster fathers). Even worse perhaps is the sometimes sadomasochistic relationship betwixt herself and Clay. She is as guilty for the situation as he is on some levels, but it made me so uncomfortable to read.

Recommended to paranormal romance fans, perhaps those that liked the Alpha and Omega series (of which I could not even finish the first book). I do not plan to continue with the Women of the Otherworld books, after having read the description for the second book.

Of Wolf and Man - Metallica

Linger
The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: fantasy, young adult
Pages: 360

Brief Summary (Will Likely Contain Spoilers for Shiver):
Sam, having been cured from shifting to a wolf, is having trouble adjusting to the idea that, no matter how cold it becomes, he will remain human. Grace and Sam remain incredibly wrapped up in one another, spending all their time together, which brings their relationship to the notice even of Grace's neglectful parents. Isabel and Grace are good friends now; both interested in protecting the wolves. Isabel has a particular interest in one of the new wolves, as soon as she finds out how attractive he is in human form, and as self-destructive and sardonic as she is. The real drama begins though, when Grace's ever-silent wolf begins to stir.

Review:
Personally, I did not care for Shiver as much as I had hoped to. I found Grace and Sam's obsession with one another pretty absurdly disgusting. I suppose there are couples that want to be together 24/7/365, but they probably are not people I would want to know. This book, though, was better from the addition of Cole and Isabel's perspectives. Cole and Isabel are both sarcastic and cynical, so reading their thoughts was much more enjoyable for me than reading the love-soaked longing of Grace and Sam.

One more awesome thing about Linger: the text of the novel is green. Made me realize how awesome it is to not be reading in black and white for a change, which is rarely possible with books. That was an awesome decision on the part of the publisher, although I wish they had done Shiver in blue, so that the series was consistent.

The ending indicates that at least one more book will be coming in this series. Here's hoping that Cole and Isabel keep getting a larger portion of the book. Recommended for fans of the first book. If you're wondering whether to start the series, I might wait and see how people review the series as a whole, as I am still not entirely sold on it.